Casablanca, Morocco

Apr. 06, 2023

For information about Morocco, please see my post on Agadir. This post will focus on Casablanca.

Casablanca, Arabic Al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, or Dar al-Beïda, is the principal port of Morocco, on the North African Atlantic seaboard.

The origin of the town is not known. An Amazigh (Berber) village called Anfa stood on the present-day site in the 12th century; it became a pirates’ base for harrying Christian ships and was destroyed by the Portuguese in 1468. The Portuguese returned to the area in 1515 and built a new town called Casa Branca (“White House”). It was abandoned in 1755 after a devastating earthquake, but the ʿAlawī sultan Sīdī Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh rebuilt the town in the late 18th century. Spanish merchants, who named it Casablanca, and other European traders began to settle there. The French after a time outnumbered other European settlers, and the name Maison Blanche (also meaning “White House”) became as common as Casablanca.

The population of Casablanca was 3.5 million in 2018. Casablanca today:

The man-made port of Casablanca is protected from the sea by a breakwater and handles most of Morocco’s foreign trade. It is also a port of call for European ships; Boulevard Hansali, which leads to the port, is lined with shops for tourists. Inland from the docks and the harbor is the old city, or medina, the original Arab town. Still enclosed in parts by its original rampart walls, it is a maze of narrow streets and whitewashed brick or stone houses.

A view of the medina:

The purpose of this building is described in three languages–Arabic on top, followed by Berber, and French on the bottom.

In a semicircle outside the walls of the medina is the town built by the French. Avenues radiating from Muḥammad V Square are intersected by ring roads that reach to the coast on either side of the harbor. Muḥammad V Square, near the gateway of the old medina, and United Nations Square are the business and administrative centers of the town, where banks, hotels, and large modern shops are located.

We visited the Hassan II Mosque. Non-Muslims are only allowed inside four times a year and we were not there on one of them.

Far from dividing the city in two, in Casablanca, the city of the sea and the immaculate white, there is a point of connection between the old Medina and the new city, built during the French occupation throughout the 20th century. This nexus between classic and modern, between the past and the present, is none other than the United Nations Square, undeniably one of the most emblematic places in the city.

Once built as a market by Joseph Marrast in 1920 and initially called La Place de France, the United Nations Square is one of the most visited spots of Casablanca, since together with the Mohamed V Square it occupies the city’s epicentre. This is proven by the fact that the square occupies a privileged position among many streets of Casablanca, as city’s main streets converge on this square: Mohamed V, Hassan II, F.A.R, Houphouët-Boigny and Moulay-Hassan I. I did not have a picture but I found this stock photo of United Nations Square:

Morocco is ruled by Mohammed VI. His Majesty the King, Mohammed VI, King of Morocco, is a descendent of the Alaouite offspring, originally from Yanboo Al Nakhil, a small oasis of the Arabian coast on the Red Sea. Directly descending from the prophet of Islam, Sidna Mohammed, via his daughter Lalla Fatima Zohra, the Royal family came to settle in Sijilmasa, in the Moroccan South, in the middle of the 13th century. His Majesty King Mohammed VI is the 23rd king of the Alaouite Dynasty, the reign of which started in the middle of the 17th century. One of his palaces is in Casablanca.

Palace guards:

Farther south, overlooking the gardens of the Park of the Arab League, is the white Cathedral of the Sacré Coeur. West of the park and stretching toward the coast are the gardens and villas of residential districts, such as Anfa.

Large numbers of poor live in shantytowns (bidonvilles) on the outskirts of the city. The shantytowns largely consist of ramshackle constructions made from cinder blocks and sheet metal, many of which lack basic running water and sewage disposal; many, however, sport satellite dishes. The Moroccan government has implemented policies to improve the infrastructure and make these shantytowns more livable.

Buses are the principal means of public transport. A network of petit and grande taxis provide service for travelers within the city and within the surrounding region, respectively. Roads connect Casablanca with other major cities. There is also a railway line that runs northeastward to Tangier—and, during periods of political stability, eastward into Algeria and Tunisia. The Casablanca-Anfa airport, to the southwest, and the Casablanca-Nouaceur airport, to the east of the city, provide international service.

The rapid commercial progress of Casablanca, especially the growth of its port, has established it as the economic capital of Morocco. It accounts for more than half of the bank transactions and industrial production of the country. Here is some new construction in progress:

This colorfully garbed individual is a water man. Traditionally, water men sold water to those who didn’t have access to it. Today they make money as tourist attractions and the sale of souvenirs.

Casablanca’s industries include textiles, electronics, leather works, food canning, and the production of beer, spirits, and soft drinks. Fishing is important in coastal waters, where a fairly wide continental shelf provides a good fishing ground. The catch includes soles, red mullet, turbot, sea eels, crabs, and shrimps.

Casablanca has Arabic- and French-language schools at different educational levels. There are also various cultural and utilitarian institutes, such as the Goethe-Institut, the Municipal College of Fine Arts, the Municipal Library, a prehistory society, an institute of fishing, and a horticultural society. The Ḥasan II mosque, situated partly on reclaimed land along the coast, is one of the largest and most ornate mosques in the world.

As Morocco’s principal center for recreation, Casablanca has a number of pleasant beaches, parks, and attractive promenades along the seafront.

After a wonderful day, we said goodbye to Casablanca and headed back to our ship to set sail for Tangier.